


Anticipatory

by unwindmyself



Series: curious shapes shift in the dark [116]
Category: True Blood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fix-It, Gen, Plans, agency and choices!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-02
Updated: 2016-01-02
Packaged: 2018-05-11 03:01:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5611363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unwindmyself/pseuds/unwindmyself
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The moments before the "wedding."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anticipatory

**Author's Note:**

> Part three, "Last Damn Night."
> 
>  **Original Characters** : Evelyn Winter, Mateo Cheng, Devi Avninder.

“Where is she?” Warlow asks, clearly struggling to behave civilly.

“Inside preparing,” Evelyn says.  “She’ll be out soon, never you fear.”

“I do not fear,” Warlow mutters.

“It’s an expression, fairy prince,” Mateo chuckles, offering his arm.  “Come with us and we’ll get you into place.  None of us knew the traditions of a fairy wedding, and vampire weddings are so rarely romantic, so -”

Evelyn smiles warmly.  “What Chancellor Cheng means to say is, we’re drawing heavily on human wedding traditions,” she explains.

“Riffing on them, as it were,” Asra calls, grinning.  She and Ghaliya are lighting the last of the candles lining the aisle, and as usual they’re both of them dressed more appropriately for a kinky sex club (albeit a formal one) than a proper sort of gathering.

As such, Warlow curls his lip, but he nods and allows Evelyn and Mateo to steer him toward the end of the aisle to wait for the ceremony.

 

* * *

 

“He actually thinks he’s compromising,” Danika (who’s seated in the first row, under Tara’s arm) murmurs.  “Thinks that goin’ through this whole charade is actually a sacrifice about equal to Sookie sacrificin’ her life for his old-time marriage pact.”

“Of fuckin’ course,” Tara mutters.

Braelyn (who’s seated in the first row, in Willa’s lap and giggling at everything because they ended up trading more blood than they absolutely needed to after all) giggles.  “I’m so glad I don’t crave dick,” she says into Willa’s neck.

“I’m glad too,” Willa laughs.

“Y’all are gross,” Pam says.

Charlaine (who’s seated in the second row, in Pam’s lap) presses a kiss to the underside of Pam’s jaw and smirks.  “It’s so cute when you’re cranky,” she coos sweetly.  Of all the girls, she’s clearly having the most fun pretending to be a toything.

Pam rolls her eyes and nips at Charlaine’s collarbone.  “Isn’t there an old adage about children should be seen and not heard?” she asks dryly.

“Oh, you love my chattering,” Charlaine teases.

“I really don’t,” Pam replies under her breath.

Adilyn (who’s seated in the second row, leaning against Jessica’s shoulder) has been quiet this whole while and finally notices that’s because her human has been quiet too.  Nervous, probably.  She frowns.  “Are you worried?” she asks.

“Yeah,” Jessica admits.  “It’s just like - this is some shit, y’know?  A different kinda some shit than most of our shit.  A lot more ifs and a lot fewer viable contingencies, or somethin’.”

“It is,” Adilyn says.  “We’re gonna be okay, though.  I really do believe that.”

“The naïveté of youth,” Jessica says not unkindly.

“You’re one to talk, baby queen,” Pam says, leaning over and smirking.

 

* * *

 

“Are you going to be all right?” Nora asks, frowning thoughtfully at Sookie and Devi in turn.

Devi shrugs cheerfully, accentuating her Southern drawl when she speaks.  “I’m just a proper Southern girl, and my daddy taught me to always be able to defend myself.  Carryin’ a gun ain’t unusual.”

Sookie smiles a bit.  “Is that true?”

Another shrug.  “My mom taught me to use a gun and I would never consider carrying one in daily - nightly, I guess - life,” she says flatly.  “I’m horribly improper and technically I only pretend to be Southern, considering I was born in Warsaw.  I’m used to perpetuating lies like this.  I won’t give the game away.”

Nora nods.  Part of being an excellent liar herself is being adept at recognizing other people’s lies or other people’s abilities to lie.  Devi at least seems to believe herself enough to be able to will what she’s saying to be true.  “And Sookie?” Nora asks softly.

“I’m okay,” Sookie says.  “A blushing bride is allowed to be nervous, isn’t she?”

Eric comes to kiss Nora (it’s the kind of reassuring kiss that between humans would be done on the cheek but with them is done on the back of the neck, with her hair lifted carefully).  “She is,” he agrees.  “We’re all allowed to be nervous.  What Nora is asking is, are you too nervous to pull this off?”

“I could tell, dumbass,” Sookie says cheerfully.  “Trying a little levity.”

“Hell, that’s normal of you, it’s gonna be all right,” Devi says.

 

* * *

 

“I’m gonna fuckin’ scream if Sookie doesn’t get her ass out here,” Luna hisses.

“It’s okay, it’s gonna be okay,” Nicole soothes.  “She’ll be out when she’s ready, it’ll be okay.”

“Couldn’t I just attack him now?” Luna mutters, turning to glare at Warlow.  It’s not like she has to hold back.  She can be just as pissed as she wants to be.

“You sure as hell can’t, but wouldn’t that be nice?” Nicole says.  “I could shoot the fucker while you ripped his limbs off, or something.”  It’s more graphic than she’s allowed herself to be yet, but she can be pissed now, too.  He can listen in on that.  The grieving shifter half-widow and the plucky human ally are no threat, after all, and it wouldn’t be right if no one was raging about the proposed union.

“That sounds incredible,” Luna agrees darkly.  “I’d do it slow.  You’d probably wind up just standing guard after a while.”

“I could shoot him till I ran out of bullets, though,” Nicole suggests.  “That could be fun.”

 

* * *

 

Jason wanders into the house, frowning.  “Everyone’s gettin’ restless,” he announces.  He, too, is wearing a suit with no shirt underneath, and Sookie has to keep from cracking up laughing.  “Are you ready to go out there?”

Sookie strides forward, glad the weapons are small enough they’re not affecting how she holds herself.  “Give me your arm,” she tells Jason.  “You’re walkin’ me down the aisle and I’m ready to walk down the aisle.”

“We should go on ahead first,” Nora says, reaching for Eric’s hand.  “Take our places at the front.”

“Was performing weddings always an Authority responsibility?” Eric asks.  “Like being a law enforcement officer or a judge?”

“It’s never come up, honestly,” Nora says.  “Human-vampire weddings have been varying types of illegal throughout centuries, and vampire-vampire weddings are hardly important enough to be seen to by Chancellors, so while I’m sure we would have been allowed, this is, to my knowledge, a completely bullshit ceremony in this way as well as the many others.”

“Excellent,” Eric says.


End file.
